The present invention is in the technical field of JEWELRY.
More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of BODY JEWELRY. More particularly, the present invention relates to JEWELRY WORN ON PARTS OF THE BODY, SUCH AS THE HAND, and a method of making and attaching the jewelry to the body.
Historically, an issue with jewelry worn on a body part has been the method of attachment of the jewelry to the body. Traditional methods include encircling the body part with the jewelry (e.g., a chain), and attaching two ends of the jewelry with a clasp or some other attaching means. Other methods of attachment have included using molded wire or other pliable material, to mold to a body pan. These methods provide disadvantages, including difficulty of attachment, discomfort to the wearer, inadequate staying ability, non-flexibility, and difficulty of detachment.
For example, one traditional method of attachment of body jewelry has been to encircle the body part with the jewelry and attach the two ends with a traditional clasp or similar means see, for example, U.S. Pat. App. No. 2006/0005575 A1 to LaRocca, and U.S. Pat. App. No. 2007/0062217 A1 to Graham), U.S. Pat. App. No. 2006/0005575 A1 discusses clasps as providing an opening and closing of a chain around a body part. Similarly, U.S. Pat. App. No. 2007/0062217 describes an instep bracelet that is connected by a clasp. In each of the cases above, a piece of material “encircles,” or forms a circle around a body pan and is connected with a clasp to hold the jewelry in place.
Other body jewelry patents appear to describe variations from simply “encircling” a single body part (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,523,685, Des. 5,386,710, 5,526,654, and Des, 423,760). However, these patents simply employ two err more body part encircling elements into their design, along with an attaching means between the two encircling elements.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,685 to Tzoubris describes a ring securing device. An elongated loop serves as an “attaching means” to hold a ring in place, by connecting the ring to a wristband. Therefore, this design simply incorporates two body part encircling elements, a ring and wristband, and an attaching means, a loop, to hold the jewelry in place.
Des. 5,386,710 describes an article of foot jewelry comprising a closed toe loop, a connecting bridge, and a closed ankle loop. When applied to the foot, the connecting bridge stretches across the wearer's instep and attaches the toe loop to the ankle loop. Thus, two body part encircling elements, the two loops, are connected via an attaching means, the connecting bridge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,654 describes a body decoration worn on the back of the hand. The body decoration is made up of an ornamental element connected to a flexible pliable wire. One end of the wire is wrapped around die wearer's wrist, and the other is wrapped around the wearer's finger. The ornamental element stays in place on the back of the hand, along a portion of wire that serves as an attaching means between one body pan encircling element, a ring, and a second body part encircling element, a wrist bracelet.
Des, 432,760 describes an ornamental design for a “ring connected ankle to toe or wrist to finger bracelet.” In this patent, one body part encircling element, a ring, is connected via an attaching means, a chain, to another body part encircling element, a bracelet.
Though each of the four patents above are distinct, the general idea of employing two body part encircling elements to hold a body decoration in place, with help of an attaching means, is apparent in all font. Therefore, like the traditional bracelet or ring patents and applications, these four patents describe jewelry held in place through the use of an encircling element that literally forms a “circle” around a body pan.
Though some patents do appear to suggest an alternate method of body jewelry attachment, apart from literally “encircling” a body part, they are few.
One such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,738, to Rothel. This patent describes attaching ear ornamentation to the ear using a formed wire. The formed wire is molded to the bank of the ear and connects to two compression coils, each located at either end of the formed wire. The invention therefore molds to, rather than encircles the ear. Other methods of jewelry attachment, that do not require “encircling” a body element, are difficult to find.
Presently there is a need in the field of body jewelry to employ new methods of securing body jewelry to one or more body parts, apart from simply “encircling” or “molding” an element of body jewelry around one or more body parts.